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1
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..',.■■■ .:...'- . - . ."■;■ ■■""■. . '■ ■' : ■■.
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Wadena gang avoids prison
Trial judge Davis also to hear appeal
told U.S. District Court Judge
By Gary Blair
Three White Earth tribal council
members convicted June 24 on
numerous counts of corruption were
back in St. Paul federal court last
Tuesday to fight being jailed while
they await sentencing.
Seated confidently among their
$1.6 million legal defense team, paid
for by reservation funds, were tribal
chairman Darrell "Chip" Wadena,
sec/tres. Jerry Rawley and council
member Rick Clark.
Lead prosecutor Jeanne Graham
told U.S. District Court Judge
Michael J. Davis, "These men have
squandered hundreds of thousands of
dollars. They are the most powerful
men on the reservation. The court
heard testimony that they can hire and
fire anyone that they want," Graham
continued.
"They pass regulations, but they do
not have to follow their rules. It's
time for the corruption to stop, and it
should start today," she pleaded.
"At this present time, Mr. Wadena
has protested the election that he
recently lost. This shows that he still
wants to maintain his power and
for now
of BIA recognition
influence," Graham added.
Lead defense attorney John Brink
was next to address the court. He said,
"Wadena has been ousted and they
have appointed Erma Vizenor to the
council and she is the one who is
writing the checks. My client has no
control over the funds — nor is he
trying to take control of the check
book," Brink's countered.
"All the control has been taken over
by Eugene 'Bugger' McArthur. Mr.
Wadena has tried to get the FBI and
the Becker County Sheriff's
Wadena cont'd on 4
LL-RBC judge rejects election appeal
By Jeff Armstrong
Leech Lake election appeals judge
Joseph Plumer denied without hearing
a request for a new election in Dist.
Ill, where incumbent Myron Ellis won
a close vote despite his conviction and
imprisonment last year. Plumer, an
Apple Valley attorney, was hired at a
June 21 St. Paul RBC meeting after
John Herrera, a relative of Ellis,
resigned due to conflict of interest.
Citing Ellis' agreement to plead
guilty to misappropriating more than
$13,000 and his ensuing 90-day
sentence to Leavenworth, runner-up
Dee Fairbanks argued that Ellis
improperly certified himself and
convicted felon Alfred (Tig)
Pemberton as candidates.
The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe's
constitution requires removal of or a
recall vote on RBC members found
guilty of malfeasance or felony charges
while in office. Therefore, Fairbanks
maintained, neither Ellis nor
Pemberton should have been eligible
to run as candidates.
Plumer relied almost entirely on the
language of the tribal election
ordinance, which he said barred
consideration of any constitutional
questions, including the
constitutionality of the election
ordinance itself. "Ms. Fairbanks cites
the preamble to the Revised
Constitution and Bylaws of the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, as well
as the purposes and rights sections of
that document," wrote Plumer.
"However, the general language cited
by Ms. Fairbanks does not alter the
Court's viewthat itsjurisdiction herein
is limited by the clear and unequivocal,
and more specific, language included
in the election ordinance:
'Certification decisions of the
Resenation Tribal Council shall be
final and unappealable,'" Plumer said.
Fairbanks also challenged the
constitutionality of barring any appeal
ofpotentially arbitrary RBC decisions
on who incumbents want to accept as
challengers, and asked for TEC
certification of its legitimacy. The
former Dist. Ill candidate called that
portion of the ordinance, "a de facto
law...which on its face, is illegal and
impairs the civil rights of the people
which the law is meant to serve."
Without explanation, the judge ruled
that "this Court has determined that
such certification is not appropriate."
Instead of grappling with the
constitutional issues, Plumer deferred
to Leech Lake RBC attorney Steve
Thorne and executive director Roger
Aitken, whose opinions were placed
in the court records.
According to Thorne, "The Election
Ordinance places certification
decisions solely within the discretion
of the RTC... A protest is obviously an
attempt to appeal the final decision of
the RTC. Therefore, the decision of
the RTC to certify a candidate cannot
be protested, and the Election Appeals
Judge must reject Ms. Fairbanks'
protest for lack of subject-matter
jurisdiction." At the April 24 election
certification meeting, Thorne argued
against giving anyone but the RBC a
voice in naming election board
members.
Based on Thome's opinion, Roger
Aitken said, "it is the RTC's view that
certification decisions, including this
one, are within the exclusive
jurisdiction of the RTC, under the
Tribal Election Ordinance and cannot
be appealed by means of an election
protest."
Fairbanks said she had not
determined whether to contest the
ruling in the MCT "appeals court."
Judge Davis to rule on Wadena's appeal of
BIA recognition of McArthur gov't
By Gary Blair
Darrell "Chip" Wadena has now
asked the man who presided over his
conviction, U.S. District Court judge
Michael J. Davis, to overturn the BIA's
recent ruling allowing chairman-elect
Eugene "Bugger" McArthur and John
Buckanaga to serve as the White Earth
reservation's interim government
pending a decision by an reservation
appeals judge who could order another
election.
Chip's attorney, Larry Small, called
the BIA's move an overreaction and
said their decision is a dangerous
precedent. Small told the court on
Wednesday, "In the future anyone
who wants to take over a reservation's
government, could do so without any
consequences," he said.
An attorney for the BIA raised his
hands as he told Davis about the
agency's role in that decision. "On
one hand we had these convictions
and on the other hand we had these
candidates elected," he said. "I think
the Bureau did the right thing under
those conditions," he added.
Former Judge Miles Lord, who
represented McArthur and
Buckanaga, defended his client's
decision to take over the White Earth
government. "They had a plan to take
over the government even if Wadena
Second man sentenced in 1980 slaying
By Joe Kafka
SELBY, S.D. (AP) _ Weeping
openly, James E. Stroh II apologized
in court Monday for the slaying nearly
16^ years ago of Candace Rough
Surface, 18, of Kenel.
Moments later he was sentenced to
15 years in prison, ending the saga of
a 1980 murder that had gone unsolved
until last fall when the Eagle River,
Wis., man confessed to the crime.
Stroh, 31, and his cousin, Nicholas
A. Scherr of Mobridge beat, raped
and shot Rough Surface, a member of
the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Tribe.
The young woman disappeared on a
trip into Mobridge, which is just across
the Missouri River from the Standing
Rock Reservation.
It was not until nine months later
that a rancher found her corpse in a
shallow bay. An autopsy showed she
had been shot five times.
"I pray that the Lord will heal the
hurt with his love and forgiveness,"
Stroh sobbed Monday as he pleaded
guilty to second-degree manslaughter
and aggravated assault.
Thomas Tonner of Aberdeen,
Stroh's attorney, asked him if he felt
remorse for the killing, which took
place when Stroh and Scherr were 15
and out drinking.
"Oh God yes," Stroh said. "I'm
sorry."
The mystery of the unsolved murder
began to unravel last fall when Stroh
was turned in to authorities in
Wisconsin. He was going through a
divorce, and had told his wife about
the murder. Stroh's mother-in-law
worked for a lawyer and told him
about the murder; the lawyer contacted
By Katherine Rizzo
WASHINGTON (AP)
Congressional staffs are continuing
their negotiations over the best way to
rewrite a bill offering easier outside-
the-tribe adoptions by families who
are not American Indians.
It's a contentious issue. The Justice
Department and the House and
Senate's experts on Indian issues are
siding with tribes, which object to
any legislation that would dilute their
sovereignty.
Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, is
pushing for a rewrite of the Indian
Child Welfare Act. Negotiations
continued today.
An adoptive mother herself, she
became involved in the issue after
learning of a Columbus, Ohio, family
whose efforts to adopt 1/32 Porno
twins led to extended litigation
because their Indian ancestry was kept
secret by the parents for months until
the twins' grandmother retroactively
enrolled them in the tribe.
Pryce's legislation already has been
approved by the House as part of a
large adoption bill, but the Senate
Indian Affairs Committee stripped
her language out of the version it
passed.
Since then the tribes, adoption
advocates and lawmakers have been
meeting- to try to resolve their
differences.
On Wednesday, the Senate
committee held a hearing to examine
substitute language Chairman John
McCain, R-Ariz. described as an
important compromise and a
"delicately balanced package."
The package isn't yet ready for
introduction, but McCain said he's
planning to move swiftly.
Wadena gang avoids prison, for now/ pg 1
Judge Davis to rule on McArthur govt./ pg 1
LL-RBC judge rejects elect, app./ pg 1
W.E. Cand. get more time for appeal/ pg 1
Natives and the UN/ pg 3
Voice of the People
1
Fifty Cents
Native
American
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded in 19BB
Volume B Issue 3B
July 5, 199B
ni
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, Motive American Press, 199E
and the others were not convicted.
They had enough stuff on them to
make that happen," Lord told Davis.
Neither McArthur nor Buckanaga
were in court. Chip sat with his legal
counsel as he had done during the
fraud trial in w hich he was convicted
of all fifteen corruption charges
against him.
Judge Davis then announced that
he would have a court order out by
the end of the day or by Friday.
However, both times are highly
unlikely with the impending holiday.
The ruling, whether in favor of
Wadena or not, could have an affect
on BIA and Indian leadership all over
the United States.
John Buckanaga was sworn in, by MN Court of Appeals Judge Jim Randall, as the new W.E. Dist JM
Rep. in a controversial move by the new interim government. Photo by WJL
White Earth verdict spurs power struggle
authorities.
Scherr, 31, was sentenced in late
May to 100 years in prison for his part
in the slaying.
Stroh had initially been charged
with murder, but that complaint was
dropped when he agreed to testify
against his cousin. Scherr's trial was
cancelled when he agreed to plead
guilty to first-degree manslaughter.
Circuit Judge Jack Von Wald
sentenced Stroh Monday after a
hearing in which members of Rough
Surface's family told of their loss.
Stroh's family, friends and others
asked for leniency.
Mark Petersen, a minister from
Sheboygan, Wis., said he has talked
with Stroh about the murder, and he
is truly contrite.
Slaying cont'd on 3
By Pat Doyle
Star Tribune Staff Writer
Twenty years of power eroded
quickly for Darrell (Chip) Wadena
after his conviction last week for
rigging construction bids for his
tribe's Shooting Star Casino.
The day after the verdict, a
longtime rival took over the White
Earth Band of Chippewa offices. Two
days later, the Bureau of Indian
Affairs said it no longer recognized
Wadena and codefendants Jerry
Rawley and Rick Clark as chairman,
secretary-treasurer and council
member of the tribe.
And at the Mahnomen, Minn.,
casino that the convicted officials
helped build, managers told
employees late last week that they
now answer to a new tribal
government.
Nevertheless, Wadena continued to
claim power on the north-west
Minnesota resenation.
Prosecutors maintain that he and
the other convicted officials still pose ■
a threat to steal tribal money or
intimidate opponents.
In a hearing scheduled for Tuesday,
they will ask a federal judge in St.
Paul to jail the officials before they
are sentenced.
"Although convicted of federal
felonies, they still are trying to
exercise their power, causing tension
and concern on the reservation,"
prosecutors said in a court document
filed Thursday.
Wadena "indicated that violence
was at hand," the document said, but
it provided no details.
Becker County Sheriff Tom Hunt
said Friday that he had not heard of
any political violence on the
reservation last week, But he said
sheriff's deputies one day escorted
supporters of newly elected Tribal
Chairman Eugene (Bugger)
McArthur to their cars because they
feared trouble in the parking lot
outside tribal offices in the town of
White Earth.
And on Thursday afternoon, Hunt
said, "A lady ran up and down the
hallway (of the tribal building,
saying, 'They've got guns: they're
coming,' "referring to opponents of
McArthur, "But no one has been able
to verify there were guns."
Hunt speculated that the woman
mistook cellular phones she had seen
people carrying for guns.
Tribal employees also reported a
brief scuffle in the building between
a relative of Wadena and a longtime
Wadena opponent, Marvin
Manypenny.
After a seven-week trial, Wadena,
Rawley and Clark were convicted
Monday of conspiracy, theft,
Struggle cont'd on 6
Tribal conservation warden convicted of
moose harassment
Native people offer counterproposal on adoption
Pryce said staff-level meetings on
the subject were resuming today, as
well as meetings between various
lawmakers and the interest groups
working on the issue.
The package offered by the National
Congress of American Indians would
impose a deadline for tribal
intervention in adoption proceedings
but require that Native American
nations be notified of all adoption
proceedings involving tribal
members.
Pryce said progress had been made
but she still wanted some assurance
that adoptive families would not have
to worry about "retroactive
enrollment" in tribes.
If McCain's committee fails to come
with adequate language, she said she
has an ace in the hole: John Glenn, D-
Ohio. "Senator Glenn is prepared to
try to amend it on the floor," she said.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ A White
Earth Chippewa tribal conservation
warden has been convicted of moose
harassment.
Officials on the White Earth
reservation in northwestern
Minnesota authorized the killing of
two moose in May 1995 to get meat
for a powwow. Tribal conservation
warden John Stone Jr. claimed his
role was minor.
But federal authorities claimed that
Stone harassed a moose during the
hunt, which is illegal under the
Airborne Hunting Act.
On Tuesday, a jury deliberated for
about two hours before finding Stone
guilty of a misdemeanor charge -of
moose harassment. The jurors also
acquitted two other defendants.
"This was an illegal and unequal
contest between man and moose,"
Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret
Chutich said in her closing argument
Monday.
U.S. District Judge David Doty will
sentence Stone, who remains free, in
about two months.
Roger Oberg, who rented the plane to
the reservation, and pilot Enrique
Vasquez, both of Detroit Lakes, Minn.,
were acquitted of the same charge.
Stone had a radio, which the
prosecution claimed he used to
communicate the moose's position to
hunters on the ground.
Two witnesses testified that they
saw a plane flying low and a moose
running across Hwy. 59. One said the
moose was at full gallop, its eyes
showing alarm and ears laid back.
Hunters shot it.
The moose never made it to the
powwow. A freezer malfunctioned
and the meat spoiled.
W.E. candidates get more time for appeals
WHITE EARTH, Minn. (AP) -A
tribal election appeals judge has
agreed to give candidates who filed
protests over elections in the White
Earth Band of Chippewa more time
to prepare their cases.
Paul Day, a Leech Lake Chippewa
attorney, granted a motion for
continuance Friday to four former
candidates for council positions.
Doyle Turner, Robert Durant,
Kenneth Brown and Nancy Larson
were defeated in a June 11 election
that put Eugene "Bugger McArthur
in power as tribal chairman and John
Buckanaga as District III
representative.
Day set the next hearing for July 8.
At issue is a group of absentee
ballots the four say weren't counted
in the election. Others contend the
ballots came in too late to be counted.
The four also made a motion for
discovery to force the tribal
government to produce the ballots.
Day said he'd take their request
under advisement and likely issue a
ruling on it Monday morning.
Ousted tribal chairman Darrell
"Chip" Wadena also had filed an
election appeal, but neither he nor any
of his representatives was present at
Friday's hearing. Instead, he held his
own protest hearing in Mahnomen
Appeal cont'd on 3

1
-■)/'.■; ^:Oif;^^;:St;i^s^;"y;';■: Vs;'>-;;:''".--J;
■■ ■ - ■ _'-■.-
..',.■■■ .:...'- . - . ."■;■ ■■""■. . '■ ■' : ■■.
■
- :.. -;:i '•■ -
Wadena gang avoids prison
Trial judge Davis also to hear appeal
told U.S. District Court Judge
By Gary Blair
Three White Earth tribal council
members convicted June 24 on
numerous counts of corruption were
back in St. Paul federal court last
Tuesday to fight being jailed while
they await sentencing.
Seated confidently among their
$1.6 million legal defense team, paid
for by reservation funds, were tribal
chairman Darrell "Chip" Wadena,
sec/tres. Jerry Rawley and council
member Rick Clark.
Lead prosecutor Jeanne Graham
told U.S. District Court Judge
Michael J. Davis, "These men have
squandered hundreds of thousands of
dollars. They are the most powerful
men on the reservation. The court
heard testimony that they can hire and
fire anyone that they want," Graham
continued.
"They pass regulations, but they do
not have to follow their rules. It's
time for the corruption to stop, and it
should start today," she pleaded.
"At this present time, Mr. Wadena
has protested the election that he
recently lost. This shows that he still
wants to maintain his power and
for now
of BIA recognition
influence," Graham added.
Lead defense attorney John Brink
was next to address the court. He said,
"Wadena has been ousted and they
have appointed Erma Vizenor to the
council and she is the one who is
writing the checks. My client has no
control over the funds — nor is he
trying to take control of the check
book," Brink's countered.
"All the control has been taken over
by Eugene 'Bugger' McArthur. Mr.
Wadena has tried to get the FBI and
the Becker County Sheriff's
Wadena cont'd on 4
LL-RBC judge rejects election appeal
By Jeff Armstrong
Leech Lake election appeals judge
Joseph Plumer denied without hearing
a request for a new election in Dist.
Ill, where incumbent Myron Ellis won
a close vote despite his conviction and
imprisonment last year. Plumer, an
Apple Valley attorney, was hired at a
June 21 St. Paul RBC meeting after
John Herrera, a relative of Ellis,
resigned due to conflict of interest.
Citing Ellis' agreement to plead
guilty to misappropriating more than
$13,000 and his ensuing 90-day
sentence to Leavenworth, runner-up
Dee Fairbanks argued that Ellis
improperly certified himself and
convicted felon Alfred (Tig)
Pemberton as candidates.
The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe's
constitution requires removal of or a
recall vote on RBC members found
guilty of malfeasance or felony charges
while in office. Therefore, Fairbanks
maintained, neither Ellis nor
Pemberton should have been eligible
to run as candidates.
Plumer relied almost entirely on the
language of the tribal election
ordinance, which he said barred
consideration of any constitutional
questions, including the
constitutionality of the election
ordinance itself. "Ms. Fairbanks cites
the preamble to the Revised
Constitution and Bylaws of the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, as well
as the purposes and rights sections of
that document," wrote Plumer.
"However, the general language cited
by Ms. Fairbanks does not alter the
Court's viewthat itsjurisdiction herein
is limited by the clear and unequivocal,
and more specific, language included
in the election ordinance:
'Certification decisions of the
Resenation Tribal Council shall be
final and unappealable,'" Plumer said.
Fairbanks also challenged the
constitutionality of barring any appeal
ofpotentially arbitrary RBC decisions
on who incumbents want to accept as
challengers, and asked for TEC
certification of its legitimacy. The
former Dist. Ill candidate called that
portion of the ordinance, "a de facto
law...which on its face, is illegal and
impairs the civil rights of the people
which the law is meant to serve."
Without explanation, the judge ruled
that "this Court has determined that
such certification is not appropriate."
Instead of grappling with the
constitutional issues, Plumer deferred
to Leech Lake RBC attorney Steve
Thorne and executive director Roger
Aitken, whose opinions were placed
in the court records.
According to Thorne, "The Election
Ordinance places certification
decisions solely within the discretion
of the RTC... A protest is obviously an
attempt to appeal the final decision of
the RTC. Therefore, the decision of
the RTC to certify a candidate cannot
be protested, and the Election Appeals
Judge must reject Ms. Fairbanks'
protest for lack of subject-matter
jurisdiction." At the April 24 election
certification meeting, Thorne argued
against giving anyone but the RBC a
voice in naming election board
members.
Based on Thome's opinion, Roger
Aitken said, "it is the RTC's view that
certification decisions, including this
one, are within the exclusive
jurisdiction of the RTC, under the
Tribal Election Ordinance and cannot
be appealed by means of an election
protest."
Fairbanks said she had not
determined whether to contest the
ruling in the MCT "appeals court."
Judge Davis to rule on Wadena's appeal of
BIA recognition of McArthur gov't
By Gary Blair
Darrell "Chip" Wadena has now
asked the man who presided over his
conviction, U.S. District Court judge
Michael J. Davis, to overturn the BIA's
recent ruling allowing chairman-elect
Eugene "Bugger" McArthur and John
Buckanaga to serve as the White Earth
reservation's interim government
pending a decision by an reservation
appeals judge who could order another
election.
Chip's attorney, Larry Small, called
the BIA's move an overreaction and
said their decision is a dangerous
precedent. Small told the court on
Wednesday, "In the future anyone
who wants to take over a reservation's
government, could do so without any
consequences," he said.
An attorney for the BIA raised his
hands as he told Davis about the
agency's role in that decision. "On
one hand we had these convictions
and on the other hand we had these
candidates elected," he said. "I think
the Bureau did the right thing under
those conditions," he added.
Former Judge Miles Lord, who
represented McArthur and
Buckanaga, defended his client's
decision to take over the White Earth
government. "They had a plan to take
over the government even if Wadena
Second man sentenced in 1980 slaying
By Joe Kafka
SELBY, S.D. (AP) _ Weeping
openly, James E. Stroh II apologized
in court Monday for the slaying nearly
16^ years ago of Candace Rough
Surface, 18, of Kenel.
Moments later he was sentenced to
15 years in prison, ending the saga of
a 1980 murder that had gone unsolved
until last fall when the Eagle River,
Wis., man confessed to the crime.
Stroh, 31, and his cousin, Nicholas
A. Scherr of Mobridge beat, raped
and shot Rough Surface, a member of
the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Tribe.
The young woman disappeared on a
trip into Mobridge, which is just across
the Missouri River from the Standing
Rock Reservation.
It was not until nine months later
that a rancher found her corpse in a
shallow bay. An autopsy showed she
had been shot five times.
"I pray that the Lord will heal the
hurt with his love and forgiveness,"
Stroh sobbed Monday as he pleaded
guilty to second-degree manslaughter
and aggravated assault.
Thomas Tonner of Aberdeen,
Stroh's attorney, asked him if he felt
remorse for the killing, which took
place when Stroh and Scherr were 15
and out drinking.
"Oh God yes," Stroh said. "I'm
sorry."
The mystery of the unsolved murder
began to unravel last fall when Stroh
was turned in to authorities in
Wisconsin. He was going through a
divorce, and had told his wife about
the murder. Stroh's mother-in-law
worked for a lawyer and told him
about the murder; the lawyer contacted
By Katherine Rizzo
WASHINGTON (AP)
Congressional staffs are continuing
their negotiations over the best way to
rewrite a bill offering easier outside-
the-tribe adoptions by families who
are not American Indians.
It's a contentious issue. The Justice
Department and the House and
Senate's experts on Indian issues are
siding with tribes, which object to
any legislation that would dilute their
sovereignty.
Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, is
pushing for a rewrite of the Indian
Child Welfare Act. Negotiations
continued today.
An adoptive mother herself, she
became involved in the issue after
learning of a Columbus, Ohio, family
whose efforts to adopt 1/32 Porno
twins led to extended litigation
because their Indian ancestry was kept
secret by the parents for months until
the twins' grandmother retroactively
enrolled them in the tribe.
Pryce's legislation already has been
approved by the House as part of a
large adoption bill, but the Senate
Indian Affairs Committee stripped
her language out of the version it
passed.
Since then the tribes, adoption
advocates and lawmakers have been
meeting- to try to resolve their
differences.
On Wednesday, the Senate
committee held a hearing to examine
substitute language Chairman John
McCain, R-Ariz. described as an
important compromise and a
"delicately balanced package."
The package isn't yet ready for
introduction, but McCain said he's
planning to move swiftly.
Wadena gang avoids prison, for now/ pg 1
Judge Davis to rule on McArthur govt./ pg 1
LL-RBC judge rejects elect, app./ pg 1
W.E. Cand. get more time for appeal/ pg 1
Natives and the UN/ pg 3
Voice of the People
1
Fifty Cents
Native
American
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Founded in 19BB
Volume B Issue 3B
July 5, 199B
ni
1
A weekly publication.
Copyright, Motive American Press, 199E
and the others were not convicted.
They had enough stuff on them to
make that happen," Lord told Davis.
Neither McArthur nor Buckanaga
were in court. Chip sat with his legal
counsel as he had done during the
fraud trial in w hich he was convicted
of all fifteen corruption charges
against him.
Judge Davis then announced that
he would have a court order out by
the end of the day or by Friday.
However, both times are highly
unlikely with the impending holiday.
The ruling, whether in favor of
Wadena or not, could have an affect
on BIA and Indian leadership all over
the United States.
John Buckanaga was sworn in, by MN Court of Appeals Judge Jim Randall, as the new W.E. Dist JM
Rep. in a controversial move by the new interim government. Photo by WJL
White Earth verdict spurs power struggle
authorities.
Scherr, 31, was sentenced in late
May to 100 years in prison for his part
in the slaying.
Stroh had initially been charged
with murder, but that complaint was
dropped when he agreed to testify
against his cousin. Scherr's trial was
cancelled when he agreed to plead
guilty to first-degree manslaughter.
Circuit Judge Jack Von Wald
sentenced Stroh Monday after a
hearing in which members of Rough
Surface's family told of their loss.
Stroh's family, friends and others
asked for leniency.
Mark Petersen, a minister from
Sheboygan, Wis., said he has talked
with Stroh about the murder, and he
is truly contrite.
Slaying cont'd on 3
By Pat Doyle
Star Tribune Staff Writer
Twenty years of power eroded
quickly for Darrell (Chip) Wadena
after his conviction last week for
rigging construction bids for his
tribe's Shooting Star Casino.
The day after the verdict, a
longtime rival took over the White
Earth Band of Chippewa offices. Two
days later, the Bureau of Indian
Affairs said it no longer recognized
Wadena and codefendants Jerry
Rawley and Rick Clark as chairman,
secretary-treasurer and council
member of the tribe.
And at the Mahnomen, Minn.,
casino that the convicted officials
helped build, managers told
employees late last week that they
now answer to a new tribal
government.
Nevertheless, Wadena continued to
claim power on the north-west
Minnesota resenation.
Prosecutors maintain that he and
the other convicted officials still pose ■
a threat to steal tribal money or
intimidate opponents.
In a hearing scheduled for Tuesday,
they will ask a federal judge in St.
Paul to jail the officials before they
are sentenced.
"Although convicted of federal
felonies, they still are trying to
exercise their power, causing tension
and concern on the reservation,"
prosecutors said in a court document
filed Thursday.
Wadena "indicated that violence
was at hand," the document said, but
it provided no details.
Becker County Sheriff Tom Hunt
said Friday that he had not heard of
any political violence on the
reservation last week, But he said
sheriff's deputies one day escorted
supporters of newly elected Tribal
Chairman Eugene (Bugger)
McArthur to their cars because they
feared trouble in the parking lot
outside tribal offices in the town of
White Earth.
And on Thursday afternoon, Hunt
said, "A lady ran up and down the
hallway (of the tribal building,
saying, 'They've got guns: they're
coming,' "referring to opponents of
McArthur, "But no one has been able
to verify there were guns."
Hunt speculated that the woman
mistook cellular phones she had seen
people carrying for guns.
Tribal employees also reported a
brief scuffle in the building between
a relative of Wadena and a longtime
Wadena opponent, Marvin
Manypenny.
After a seven-week trial, Wadena,
Rawley and Clark were convicted
Monday of conspiracy, theft,
Struggle cont'd on 6
Tribal conservation warden convicted of
moose harassment
Native people offer counterproposal on adoption
Pryce said staff-level meetings on
the subject were resuming today, as
well as meetings between various
lawmakers and the interest groups
working on the issue.
The package offered by the National
Congress of American Indians would
impose a deadline for tribal
intervention in adoption proceedings
but require that Native American
nations be notified of all adoption
proceedings involving tribal
members.
Pryce said progress had been made
but she still wanted some assurance
that adoptive families would not have
to worry about "retroactive
enrollment" in tribes.
If McCain's committee fails to come
with adequate language, she said she
has an ace in the hole: John Glenn, D-
Ohio. "Senator Glenn is prepared to
try to amend it on the floor," she said.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ A White
Earth Chippewa tribal conservation
warden has been convicted of moose
harassment.
Officials on the White Earth
reservation in northwestern
Minnesota authorized the killing of
two moose in May 1995 to get meat
for a powwow. Tribal conservation
warden John Stone Jr. claimed his
role was minor.
But federal authorities claimed that
Stone harassed a moose during the
hunt, which is illegal under the
Airborne Hunting Act.
On Tuesday, a jury deliberated for
about two hours before finding Stone
guilty of a misdemeanor charge -of
moose harassment. The jurors also
acquitted two other defendants.
"This was an illegal and unequal
contest between man and moose,"
Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret
Chutich said in her closing argument
Monday.
U.S. District Judge David Doty will
sentence Stone, who remains free, in
about two months.
Roger Oberg, who rented the plane to
the reservation, and pilot Enrique
Vasquez, both of Detroit Lakes, Minn.,
were acquitted of the same charge.
Stone had a radio, which the
prosecution claimed he used to
communicate the moose's position to
hunters on the ground.
Two witnesses testified that they
saw a plane flying low and a moose
running across Hwy. 59. One said the
moose was at full gallop, its eyes
showing alarm and ears laid back.
Hunters shot it.
The moose never made it to the
powwow. A freezer malfunctioned
and the meat spoiled.
W.E. candidates get more time for appeals
WHITE EARTH, Minn. (AP) -A
tribal election appeals judge has
agreed to give candidates who filed
protests over elections in the White
Earth Band of Chippewa more time
to prepare their cases.
Paul Day, a Leech Lake Chippewa
attorney, granted a motion for
continuance Friday to four former
candidates for council positions.
Doyle Turner, Robert Durant,
Kenneth Brown and Nancy Larson
were defeated in a June 11 election
that put Eugene "Bugger McArthur
in power as tribal chairman and John
Buckanaga as District III
representative.
Day set the next hearing for July 8.
At issue is a group of absentee
ballots the four say weren't counted
in the election. Others contend the
ballots came in too late to be counted.
The four also made a motion for
discovery to force the tribal
government to produce the ballots.
Day said he'd take their request
under advisement and likely issue a
ruling on it Monday morning.
Ousted tribal chairman Darrell
"Chip" Wadena also had filed an
election appeal, but neither he nor any
of his representatives was present at
Friday's hearing. Instead, he held his
own protest hearing in Mahnomen
Appeal cont'd on 3